The 405 is shutting down.

Los Angeles Blogger Joe Anthony has laid down the bet.  The race is on:  Joe Ant will fly JetBlue from Burbank to Long Beach while the Wolfpack Hustle Freddies will ride bikes.  The clock starts when everyone leaves their respective residence.  I’m betting on Wolfpack.

An excerpt from the Los Angeles Times:

Can bicyclists beat JetBlue from Burbank to Long Beach on “Carmageddon” weekend?

A couple of bloggers have laid down that challenge to a bicycle group after learning JetBlue was offering $4 one-way plane tickets Saturday for the crosstown trip.

The cycle group known as Wolfpack Hustle will do the honors for the wheels against a JetBlue passenger plane. The cyclists are slated to take off at 10:50 a.m. Saturday from a home in Burbank.

Bicycle blogger Joe Anthony will take the 12:20 p.m. JetBlue flight from Burbank to Long Beach. The flight is scheduled to arrive in Long Beach at 1:05 pm.

Anthony is expected to make the finish line about 15 to 20 minutes later at the Long Beach Aquarium.

Read the full article at LATimes.com

What I love are the names:

• Wolfpack Hustle
• Roadblock: “You have to remember, the passenger has to come from his house to the airport and then get from the plane to the Long Beach Aquarium,” said a rider known as Roadblock from the Wolfpack Hustle.  (Excerpt from LATimes.com  – see link above)

When someone gets out of their car and approaches with apparent hostility, it’s an assault; you cannot stand by and wait to be punched.  (as.s:Hole.T = assault).  This video clearly demonstrates the danger of passively waiting for the advance.

My dear father always told me:

Never start a fight, but be sure you throw the first punch.

If this cyclist had thrown the first punch, under these circumstances, he would not have started the fight,  he would have been defending himself.  We’ve experienced this kind of behavior from irate motorists.  This past Sunday, on our way to Solana Beach, Dr. Dave saw one of the epsilon morons [who "witnessed" our "apparent assault" on the passenger of the Land Rover] near the corner where the Oceanside incident took place.  Thank you Levi.

This assault took place in London.  Click HERE to read the article at Road.cc

Match Sprint: Mark Whitehead vs. Steve Hegg

In 1982, after recently graduating from college and moving back to Los Angeles,  I went to the Encino Velodrome to watch some track racing.  The Southern California bike racing scene was very unfamiliar.

One race was particularly memorably;  not the event itself, but rather, the personalities.

Steve Hegg was introduced as a young talent from Dana Point.  I don’t remember from where the announcer said Whitehead originated; they were just a couple of young punk bike racers.  The details of the race are vague, except that Whitehead beat Hegg and to add insult to injury, he spit on Hegg after they crossed the sprint line.  Whitehead was DQ’d.

That was my introduction to the name Whitehead and the bad boy antics of one of cycling’s rising stars.

The next year I discovered El Dorado Park (Tuesday & Thursday nites).  Back then the park was ruled by the old guard. They initiated the start, controlled the pace and made sure everyone understood the rules; follow the wheel in front, take your pull, get out of the way, don’t fuck with the rhythm.  My first pull set my lungs on fire.  After a short stint at the front (and I mean short), I was struggling to get back in.  I watched every wheel to see if I could squeeze in for some recovery.  A big hand caught me on the hip and, without hesitation,  aggressively pushed me out of the way grumbling something in a thick Scottish brogue; it was Pete Whitehead, Mark’s father.  It was a shock and exciting all in the same moment.  Peloton protocol was new to me.  I’d never seen someone take their hands off the bars to physically shove another rider.  This was pretty cool stuff.

I grew up in the boxing world where personality was king and  I had discovered a parallel universe.  Mark was a colorful personality in the cycling world. He could go hard, all the way to the edge, and then take it beyond the extreme; he had the gift that makes champions.

We’ll miss the antics and the serious contributions of Mr. Mark Whitehead.  The world of cycling has lost an important member of its tribe.  Steve Hegg and Mark Whitehead became close friends.

According to VeloNews:

Whitehead held 20 national championship titles, including the team pursuit in 1984, which contributed to his selection to the U.S. team for 1984 Los Angeles Games. Whitehead had a reputation as a cagey, but often volatile, track strategist who had, on several occasions, been sanctioned for both on- and off-track outbursts. Whitehead’s reputation as a temperamental rider led fellow competitors to label him with the friendly moniker “Meat Head.”

The L.A. Times has an article about Mark Whitehead (I think they should have covered Mark’s life from a different vantage).  Click HERE to read the article.

Freddie-dom is ubiquitous.

We gotta trace the evolution of  Freddy – there are some who think it originated here in the South Land.

Found this T-Shirt on ProllyIsNotProbably; visit the site – you’ll find lots of entertainment.

Better secure the domain name BlahBlahFreddy, although, I think the correct spelling is Freddie.

To Protect & To Serve . . .

Today, riding home, northbound on PCH through Laguna Beach (July 3rd – extra police precaution in place), a motorcycle officer, heading southbound,  shouted and motioned to us (yo y Señor Tortuga) to ride single file.

Sitch: Two narrow lanes of traffic in each direction, parked cars, no bike lanes,  no sharrows, we’re moving at essentially the speed of traffic, so we ignored him.  He didn’t bother coming back.  It was a lost opportunity to school Mr. Patrolman.

I like to think we’re taking the lane for safety not arrogance.  If you give drivers the opportunity to buzz you, they will (yes, this is preaching to the choir).  It happens all the time.  In Laguna Beach, if you stay out of the door zone, you have no alternative than to ride, essentially, in the middle of the lane.  Taking the lane,  two by two,  gives you control of the lane and forces drivers to give us enough consideration that they have to pass safely; that’s all we want.  Keep it safe.

BlahBlahFreddie’s position on bicycle advocacy: It’s all about the safety stoopid.

See the post regarding this book. Click HERE.

Apparently, NBC Sports video coverage for the Tour  is LIVÊ and full stage coverage is not On-Demand.

If  this is incorrect, please send BlahBlahFreddiê instructions.  After purchasing the All Accêss subscription ($29.95) SeñorFreddiê is unable to find a link to on-demand video for Stage 1.

Last year every stage was available to view On-Demand any time of the day. There appears to be something hush-hush about on-demand.

Somewhere in the back woods of Santiago/Silverado Canyon.

Like an Earl Scheib Paint job: $29.95 / 21 stages ($1.43 per stage)

If you’re not already on the inside of the cable kabash, (HoBO crutch) you gotta pay for internet access to the event.  The NBC site is apparently  “powered by” MaPmYRide (now that hurts; standby . . . mA^p>Gellan.com is getting ready to attack / move over jOtMAps, your big brother is gonna pull through [mapgellan.com @ 53x11]).

You know you want it  (sign up for Mexican coverage):  click there to sign-up NBC .  Even if you got cable, you can have it on your iPAD too.  Sweeeeeeeeeet.

July is Freddie Solidarity Month.  The objective: Ride everyday from July 1st  through July 31st as a demonstration of your support for  the Tour de France Fredericos.  It originally started as a show of support during the race, but has been extended to include the entire month.  Ride the Ride. Talk the Amour . . .  Who will post the most miles ?

Watch this sprint to jump-start your excitement:

2008 Tour de France Stage 21 final sprint @ Champs-Elysees

Mark: surrounded by people he loved and people who loved him.
Today Mark would be 45.

March 13, 2011 Redondo Beach / Last Day San Jose - Long Beach